“A sniper stands atop a tower, a kilometre away from the high profile target, ready to take a shot. The accomplice on the ground wonders what's taking so long. The handler, thousands of miles away, waits with bated breath for the target to step out of his luxury car and appear in plain view. On the other hand the target gets inkling and decides to stay put. Tensions rise.”
There is red herring that filmmaker Neeraj Pandey (Baby, A Wednesday and Aiyaary) throws in loud and clear at this point — something that is mouthed by a Russian no less.
As a member of the audience, you do get a hint, a tiny one at that, about what is possibly transpiring. However, this is exactly the point where Pandey and Shivam Nair (Naam Shabana), both of whom hold the responsibility as directors of the eight-part web series Special Ops, bring on a twist, and in the process take the audience on a roller coaster ride.
A roller coaster ride — this is what the KK Menon-led Special Ops turns out to be, which has a really unique setting that leads to innovative story telling.
Set in the current times, the story begins with investigation of senior RAW official, played by Menon, who has to give accountability of crores and crores of tax payers’ money which he has spent on 'special operations' over previous 18 years. The government interrogators are played by Parmeet Sethi and KP Mukherjee who are partially shrewd, humorous, bureaucratic and a lot impatient.
No wonder, Menon also enjoys every moment of this, even as he adjusts his multiple cell-phones to lie in symmetry on the table in front of him, while he talks to his interrogators. In the process, he takes viewers on a never seen before ride. The subject in question is a faceless, nameless and identity-less Pakistani terrorist who, in the entire intelligence machinery, only Menon believes to exist. “There were six, and not five, terrorists who stormed into the Parliament House back in 2001,” is what he believes, and this is where the 19-year chase begins.
As is routinely seen in spy thrillers, most notably in Neeraj's own films (Baby, Aiyaary and Naam Shabana), spies do not have names or identifies. Worse, they go down claimless too in case of a mishap. Yet, there are these common men and women who are willing to join this adventure. This is where the team comprising Karan Tacker, Muzammil Ibrahim, Saiyami Kher, Vipul Gupta and Meher Vij arrive.
The one who gets maximum screen time is Tacker, who is stationed in Dubai for years and is almost a parallel lead alongside Menon. Indeed, a find and someone who has it in him to make the cut when it comes to the big screen escapades, Tacker does well in playing a man is part vulnerable, part deceptive, part believable and part heroic.
Even as he moves from one lead to another in his quest to reach the top gun who has been behind various terrorist activities in India, he manages to build acquaintance with shady billionaire businessman played by Sajjad Delafrooz.
Sajjad is clearly another find as after playing the antagonist in Salman Khan's Tiger Zinda Hai (remember his Abu Usman act?), he shows it yet again that even with a soft face, he can play a truly menacing character with a lot of evil going on in his mind. He makes sure that all his eyes are on him, especially in the second half of the series.
However, his accomplice played by Rajat Kaul, is the one who does well and also looks a lot like Sidharth Malhotra — hence reminding one of the actor's presence in Aiyaary. This team is completed with the presence of Sana Khan who is a lot like the character of Isabella Bautista played by Teresa Ruiz in Narcos: Mexico. Wish there was more of her, even as she exudes oomph each time she is on screen.
Just like the Mexican counterpart, India' own Special Ops has its own game of deception being played. The fun begins when Menon decides to move from behind the scenes to on your face offensive.
This is where the team compromising Muzammil Ibrahim (Dhokha), Saiyami Kher (Mirziya), Vipul Gupta (Tanhaji: The Unsung Warrior) and Meher Vij (Bajrangi Bhaijaan) come into action. Even though Karan leads the show, these youngsters do manage to leave an impression and score well.
The series, as a whole, scores quite well with a rapid narrative that goes back and forth between events that defined this side of the millennium. Suicide bombing, sex trafficking, use of Pakistani shooters for local threats, Babri Masjid demolition, Muzaffarnagar riots do get more than a mention too in this well-layered series that packs a lot into those eight episodes, making it a rapid fire experience.
In this chain of events, one just feels that experienced actors like Vinay Pathak and Divya Dutta could have been utilised a lot better. Both are in terrific form, as always, and though Pathak is still present from beginning till the end, Dutta’s character graph somehow meets an unconvincing culmination despite a 'dhamekdaar' entry. As for Gautami Kapoor, she is a delight to watch in a small part of Menon's understanding wife with a 16-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, Sharad Kelkar is superb as ever even in his late, but relevant entry.
Overall, Special Ops is as relevant as it gets, as it demonstrates how there is a lot that happens behind the scenes to keep the country safe.
As producers, Pandey and his steady partner Shital Bhatia make sure that they deliver one of the biggest and most entertaining thriller web series that India has produced over the years. They ensure that the cost spent on the making of this series for Hotstar is truly justified, bringing to fore a big screen experience on the small screen. Highly recommended.
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic. Views are personal)
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